Place: Reviews & Ratings

The fiance and I wandered in on our way back to the Front Range after a weekend in the Mountains last week. The brewery was much closer to the main road and easier to get to than I had expected, which is always a plus.

The patio was open despite a slight chill in the air and the doors inside the actual brewery were open giving us a pretty chilly draft. The bartender recognized we were cold right away though and closed the door immediately, making a few others happy as well. She got pretty busy soon after that and was not able to spend too much time talking about the beers we ordered for our flight, but when she brought our five tasters she did explain each one.

The cool thing was that we could pick any five for the same price, regardless of gravity or the price of a full pour. Since the high-grav stuff was what we had not tried before we dove into a False Summit (barrel-aged Quad), Apis IV (Quad) and I'm pretty sure we had a Montanya as well. Sadly, they had just kicked the last of Senorita.

After finishing the flight we each grabbed a full pour - I took a First Cast IPA, the fiance did a Porter. A new bartender stepped in to pour us those and seemed to take some of the pressure off the first one giving them both time to shoot the shit about beer a little more and their friendly insight and service at that point greatly improved the quality of our visit.

They had nine beers on tap and allowed growler fills of the core beers. We ended up heading home with a 4-pack of each of the three core beers and an Apis IV 750. It was a great stop on a long drive home and we'll be back for sure as it's some of the best beer you'll find in the mountains. (1,681 characters)

I'll be brief as there's nothing really complicated about Elevation Beer Company. First and foremost, it's located on Poncha Springs/Salida, so it's in a beautiful area. The views alone can be motivation to make the trek.In terms of the place, there's a normal sized tasting room with a 7-8 seat bar, a few tables, and some booths against the wall.There are roughly 10 beers available on tap. Those range from their flagships ('Lil Mo, 8 Second, and First Cast), to their seasonals, BA limited editions, and 1-2 taproom only offerings. They also have cask firkins on Friday, which I was lucky enough to try. On that particular day it was a Mosaic dry-hopped First Cast. Want bottles? They have all of their currently available bottles including their limited editions if there are any in season. If you've never had their beers, they're all phenomenal. In fact, of the breweries outside the front range they're among the best you'll find in all of CO.Hungry? They do have some snacks and small bites, but it isn't a brewpub or anything like that.They have plenty of souvenirs, though.I'm a big fan of their beers and am glad I made the trek out. (1,151 characters)

Pros - great beer, Salida it beautiful, cool ambiance with the wooden table bar and views of brewhouse.

Cons - their patio has a fence which you cannot see the mountains from most angles (subject to change I am told), they only had 1 beer on tap I couldn't buy in stores (I enjoy seeing what they are playing around with when I visit the taproom)

Overall - I would go again on another trip down south for a 14er, but I hope the fences are lowered and they have more experimental beers on tap. That picture is NOT accurate. (525 characters)